To Clarify

December 27, 1990|By William F. Raub, Acting director, National Institutes of Health.

BETHESDA, MD. — On Oct. 17, I was interviewed by your reporter John Crewdson. His Oct. 28 story on the National Institutes of Health investigation of allegations of misconduct in science in connection with Dr. Robert Gallo`s research on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) quoted extensively from that interview.

My recent comparison of the transcript of the interview to the statements attributed to me in the article shows that, in general, Mr. Crewdson quoted me accurately. There is, however, one glaring exception.

The fourth paragraph of the article states: ``Although the Gallo investigation is months from a conclusion, Raub said he had already discovered `a pattern of excess, in at least this laboratory and this institute, that`s disturbing.` `` The clear import of this paragraph, because of the linkage of the investigation with the ``pattern of excess`` quote, is that the inquiry/investigation had made findings that caused me to conclude that there was scientific misconduct in Dr. Gallo`s laboratory and the National Cancer Institute. That is not the case. The statement in the article substantially changes the meaning of my statement by changing the context in which it was made.

The transcript shows that the statement quoted by Mr. Crewdson was made in answering his questions about the management of Dr. Gallo`s laboratory and not about possible scientific misconduct. I was responding specifically to Mr. Crewdson`s references to prior episodes indicating a lack of proper management controls within Dr. Gallo`s laboratory and the cancer institute. Thus, my statement concerned the opinion I had reached on the basis of prior findings by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services regarding administrative controls. In fact, I used ``administrative controls`` in the sentence of my answer immediately preceding the one quoted by Mr. Crewdson.

The statement written by Mr. Crewdson and published by the Chicago Tribune is inaccurate and could harm the reputations of Dr. Gallo, his laboratory and the National Cancer Institute.